Customer Reviews

The Berenstain Bears Go Out for the Team (John Harvard Library)

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The lack of explicit moralizing is one of the best things about this instructive and funny book; too often this series is bogged down in parental admonitions. Yet the lessons are there: Practice, learn the rules, cope with pressure, play your best--but don't expect perfection. The pacing is excellent, the parents' and the cubs' perspectives are well-balanced, and the text is often very humourous. This excerpt describes the bears' practice field:

"There were no foul lines, just base paths worn by year after year of cubs running the bases. So there were a lot of arguments about foul balls. There was a rule against sliding into second base, because second base was a rock. And any ball that was hit into the duck pond in left field was a ground-rule double and an automatic time-out while they fished it out."

The book has 29 pages, with illustrations on each page. The illustrations are adequate, showing a fair amount of action in a straight-forward style. Recommended!

One of the things that distinguish the Berenstain Bears books from many other children's series is that the books almost always contain a moral lesson. Sometimes the lesson is big, sometimes it is small. However, those lessons are usually there.

Except in THE BERENSTAIN BEARS GO OUT FOR THE TEAM, there is no moral platitude. It's just a story. Brother and Sister Bear love playing baseball and end up trying out for a regular league baseball team. That's about it. It's a nice little story and kids who are trying out for a team may enjoy reading it because it illustrates that being nervous is common to all. Other than that though, it's just a nice story.

I really liked this book becuase when i was a freshman i tried out for the softball team and was scared. but i made it with flying colors and to find out if the bears do you'll have to read the book!